District to Collapse Three Immersion Programs into One?

The Berkeley Unified School District appears poised to fold its three language immersion programs into one at LeConte Elementary beginning in the fall of 2013.

A majority of the task force appointed by Superintendent William Huyett recommended the change and Huyett concurred, “based on both pedagogical and logistical issues.” The board will vote on the proposal on June 6.

As it stands, Cragmont, LeConte, and Rosa Parks elementary schools each house two-way immersion programs. The change would have no impact on the transitional bilingual program at Thousand Oaks Elementary.

“The most important focus of this program is to serve our English learner students,” Huyett said in his report to the board.

The single program would mean swifter intervention for struggling native Spanish-speaking students, who make up “a Berkeley subgroup that has increased in recent years and is affected by the achievement gap," the task force report says.

In two-way immersion, half the students are native English speakers learning a second language – in Berkeley schools, that language is Spanish -- and half are newcomers learning English. Language immersion programs have gained in popularity throughout the nation, partly fueled by the desire to instill multi-language skills in American students. 

Immersion in the Berkeley schools begins with 90 percent of instruction in Spanish and 10 percent in English, gradually working toward a 50-50 teaching day.

"The feedback has been that a lot of improvement needs to happen," said Maya Hernandez, parent and community liaison, in a phone interview. "In the early years, all the assessments are in English. Parents are wondering how well their children can perform on (standardized) tests if the assessments are all in English."

The change would roll out over four years. Students entering the program at Rosa Parks and Cragmont schools this fall would transfer to LeConte in the first grade. Each consecutive year, additional grades would be added, with all grades represented by fall 2017.

If LeConte does not fill all the two-way immersion slots, the task force advised adding a Spanish immersion strand for English-speaking students who would like to become bilingual.

That suggestion, and the timeline, alarmed board member Karen Hemphill, who said too many families have been left out of the discussion and may not even be aware such a change is in the offing.

“If they don’t choose to go into the two-way immersion program, does that mean they can’t go to LeConte?” she said. “There is a community that has not had the opportunity to weigh in. What happens to the southern zone as a whole if LeConte becomes a magnet school?”

The board also considered whether to wait until July 1, when a new superintendent is seated, to set the wheels in motion.

“I support consolidation,” said board vice president Leah Wilson. “I do not have confidence that we can achieve our goals across three schools. We don’t need to wait for a new superintendent.”

In a districtwide survey of parents, more than half either opposed a single site, or favored it only “somewhat.” About 20 percent expressed enthusiasm.

Other recommendations of the task force include these:

• Fluently Spanish and English bilingual staff, to fully serve all the students and their families;
• Coordination with teacher and staff unions;
• A careful rollout plan that will not require students to move involuntarily;
• Extra funds for materials;
• Adequate staffing to ensure other schools will not lose needed personnel.